No man is an island. entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

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I am currently working on a book to help introduce a new Christian to the Christian life. And as I have been writing it, I have been wrestling with the question of what should a new Christian expect? In particular, what should they expect about the results of being godly in the world?

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I admit it, the title is a serious temptation: I feel an overwhelming desire to make bad jokes about posteriors (perhaps it’s the result of me spending too much time with my seven-year-old son). But I do want to talk for a moment about the dangers of the killer but. What exactly do I mean? I mean the but that qualifies almost every significant theological statement we ever make. Let me give you some examples:

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I spent two days last week at a writing conference. It was a great couple of days, and I learned many things about the art of writing. (Like, apparently you need to know something about grammar! Who would have thought? [If you listen carefully, you can hear me exhaling loudly and rolling my eyes. Actually, the person leading the sessions who raised the issue was exactly right to do so. I think I am just frustrated that we have come to the point where that point needs to be made.]) All joking and then serious reflection aside, I learned heaps (like the fact that ‘learnt’ is an archaic form that is passing out of use, and I should always use ‘learned’). But I was also reminded of the rather strange relationship between words and meaning in the (post?)modern world.

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It must be nearly Christmas time. How can I tell? My letterbox is overflowing—not with cards from friends, but with colorful invitations to spend my money at a myriad of local retailers. Fortunately, it’s not just for the local Westfield’s; I can spend my money on some worthwhile Christian material too. So just humour me for a minute, and answer the following question: which of the following products didn’t appear in the latest Christian catalogue I received?

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I’ve got a confession to make: I really love being at home. I love wearing my daggy clothes and not having to care. I love lying back on my favourite recliner and talking with my wife. I love playing board games with my kids. I love retiring to my little haven and pretending that all of the problems of the world don’t exist (well, at least until some fresh battle breaks out amongst my offspring). I love being at home because it is safe and comfortable and, well … because it’s home.

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I have been reminded in a number of ways this week that following our saviour is sometimes very hard work. It can be physically and emotionally exhausting to live not for yourself, but for others. In God’s kindness, he grants us his very precious promises to encourage us to persevere. I found this little article that Gordon Cheng wrote for Briefing #290 a great encouragement. Hopefully it will encourage you too:

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In honour of it being Reformation Day yesterday (31 October), it seems appropriate to remember the gift that God gave us through the Reformers. What better way to celebrate than to hear from a young preacher straight out of Bible college learning the realities of biblical ministry. This is an excerpt from Briefing #325 called ‘Relishing the Reformation’:
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One of my favourite movies of all time is Finding Nemo. Okay, so I’ve got kids, and it goes without saying. But there is one moment in the film that causes many knowing chuckles in my household: it is when Dory turns to Marlin and says, “What is it with men and asking for directions?” Apparently, so I’ve been told told, it is possible for me to be like this on occasions. Who would have thought?

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It is good sometimes to know that there is nothing new under the sun. The issues of risk and reward, sense and abandon, have always been with us. And God has always been asking us the hard questions. Here is a word from 1999 (Briefing #235) that could well have been written for this week. (Actually, it’s a word from about 30 AD that could have been written for this week!)
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Well, after a rather sluggish start, the other Sola Panellists seem to have gotten on board the credit crunch boat (and, in fact, Lionel stole the content of one of my intended posts—grrrrr!) So I am not sure how much further to push this topic. However, given that it was my idea in the first place, and that Peter is up to #4 while I am only up to #3, I am going to continue with my present set of ramblings about a Christian response to the credit crunch.

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For our regular blast from the past this week, I couldn’t go past the words of Brian Rosner in his book Beyond Greed (also printed in Briefing #250).

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